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MST3K 518 - The Atomic Brain
The Short WHAT ABOUT JUVENILE DELINQUENCY Synopsis A band of no-good punks beat a guy for driving too slow and steal his mechanical pencil, before arriving to pick up their missing member Jamie, the son of the man they've just beaten. Information * This short was one of the few MST3k shorts/movies riffed again years later on RiffTrax. The Movie Synopsis ) in The Atomic Brain]] Hetty March (Eaton) is a ruthless old woman with plenty of money. With the help of rogue physician Dr. Otto Frank (Frank Gerstle) who labors in her basement making good use of the nuclear reactor she had installed, she intends to have her brain (through the miracle of modern 1964 atomic science) transplanted into a beautiful young host body so that she can finally "be loved for herself" and not for her money. Her new body is to be selected from among three candidates recruited from abroad and hired on as servants. The young women are Anita from Spain, Nina from Austria, and Bea from England. Things quickly turn sour, and one of the girls gets her mind switched with a cat's. Information *Both the exterior and interior of Ms. March's spacious manor bear more than a passing resemblance to the house featured in The Unearthly. *Shot in 1958, released in 1963. According to producer Jack Pollexfen, the production company went bankrupt about halfway through shooting, leaving no money to finish the film. They tried fixing it in the editing room over the next few years, but it was impossible. *Producer Jack Pollexfen fired director Joseph V. Mascelli and finished directing the picture, uncredited. *In 2015, film school graduate Ben Solovey announced a Kickstarter to restore the film from the original print (some of which which occurred at the same time as the Bring Back MST3K Kickstarter). The Kickstarter was successful and the goal was reached. [https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/manos/the-atomic-brain-4k-restoration?ref=thanks '''Click Here] for more information. Solovey had previously engaged in a similar project to restore Manos: The Hands of Fate. The Episode Host Segments Prologue: Mike gushes as Crow and Tom do the final dress rehearsal for the performance piece Love Letters. Invention Exchange (Segment One): The Bots dress up as and mock the Mads, leaving the Mads no choice but to respond in kind. As usual it doesn't go so well for Frank. Segment Two: With the aid of a weather station kit, Tom has transformed himself into Weather Servo 9! He quickly learns why they normally don't leave the safety of the ship. Segment Three: Mike shows Tom and Crow what a chin puppet is. They're disturbed by Mike's behavior... until he turns right side up. Segment Four: Magic Voice chats with the film's voice-over guy, but quickly finds him to be loathsome. Closing (Segment Five): Crow is Hank Kimball as The Fugitive while Mike reads letters. Despite his better judgment "Dr." Frank consents to meet Dr. Fist. Stinger: Anita's scream when she sees the cat in the mansion Trivia * When this episode was first released on DVD, the stinger was not included. Rhino Entertainment claims that the stinger was not included the master copy that Best Brains provided them. The stinger was included in the Shout! Factory re-release. Callbacks * “So klandinctu!” (Crash of Moons) * “Trumpy you can do magic!” (Pod People) * “Looking for the ‘Manos’ set.” * Dr. Fist returns (''Magic Voyage of SInbad'') Obscure References * "Sam the Eagle presents..." The 'Young America Films' eagle logo looks somewhat similar to the similarly stern looking Muppet Sam the Eagle. * "Gordon Jump!!" "Our Maytag broke sir!" Gordon Jump was an American actor who portrayed The Maytag Repairman in a number of Maytag commercials. * "Oh Willard Scott! I'll gently polish you." Willard Scott was a TV personality known for being the long-time weatherman on the Today Show. He would announce the birthdays of viewers turning 100 years old. He was also bald-headed. * "I give you Cheetah Chrome!" Cheetah Chrome was the alias of guitarist Eugene O'Connor who played for various punk rock bands like The Dead Boys as well as his own band Cheetah Chrome and the Casualties. * "Young American! Young American!! He was a Young Ameriiiccaaannn!!" Lyrics from David Bowie's hit song "Young Americans". * "Weekend at Bernie's: The Armageddon." Reference to a comedy film about a pair of insurance workers who are forced to pretend their recently murdered boss is still alive. * "Doo! Doo! DOO! (Snaps fingers)....Coming this Christmas." Servo is singing the familiar hook from the [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6QzbvH-ZNo Addams Family theme song]. The movie Addams Family Values was released the year this episode aired; though it was released a little before Thanksgiving rather than Christmas. * "Ann-Margrock!" Ann-Margrock is the Flintstones version of Ann-Margret. * "That's Prince's new name, isn't it?" In the 90's, in the midst of an ugly battle with his record company, Prince changed his name to an unpronounceable character (which often led him to being referred to as "The Artist Formerly Known As Prince" in the press). *''"Blanche, no! Rrrrrrrrrrrrr, dmmm dmmm dtttmm."'' Inspired by the car pulling up to the gate, Servo is referencing the sororicidal scene from [[wikipedia:What_Ever_Happened_to_Baby_Jane?_(film)|''What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?]] * ''"Norm! Norm! Norm! Norm! Norm!" (short) A double reference, to the character from Cheers, and to the members of the gang who are dressed identically. *''"Now, Janet..." "Dammit!"'' A reference to the song "Dammit Janet" from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. *''"Joe Orton would meet someone here."'' A reference to the British playwright, whose posthumously published diaries speak (quite a bit) about seeking anonymous sex in public lavatories and similar locations. *''[ "Who is it?" ] "It's the plumber. I've come to fix the sink."'' From a Sesame Street animated short. *''"Well, it seems like our options are limited. Are you familiar with Rita Mae Brown?"'' Rita Mae Brown is a feminist author, whose most famous work deals with lesbian situations in an explicit manner unusual for the era in which it was published. *''"He's changing into the Incredible Hulk!"'' In the Incredible Hulk tv series, David Banner's transformations into the titular beast would be started by a close up of his eye wide with horror. *''"Selznick International Pictures"'' Selznick International Pictures (1935-1943) was a shortlived film production studios. Ms. Marsh's house resembles the building made as its logo. Video Release * Commercially released on VHS by Rhino Entertainment in October 1997, the episode was also released at the same time as part of a 3-VHS set with I Accuse My Parents and Red Zone Cuba. *Commercially released on DVD by Rhino in April 2003 as part of The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection: Volume 3, a 4-DVD set with The Unearthly, The Side Hackers and Shorts Volume 2. **The set was re-released by Shout! Factory in September 2016. *The DVD features alternate takes for the host segments from this episode. Category:MST3K Episodes Category:Episodes with shorts Category:Season 5 Category:Movies directed by Jim Mallon Category:Unrated movies Category:Mad scientist films Category:Atomic films